world. this one gets hard at the top. feels good. feels good. it lets you know you can feel again, that you're not numb. boom. give it up, brother. there's something inside you that's still alive. >> amazing story indeed. i'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "the situation room." later in the evening, updates on the polls as they close, the results come in. meantime, "newsroom" continues right now with brooke baldwin. >> he is known for speaking his mind. moments ago on this election day, chris christie doesn't hold back in an interview with cnn, and you're about to hear it. i'm brooke baldwin. the news is now. did the childhood of a football player contribute to his alleged harassment of a teammate? a family vanishes without a trace, left behind their smoldering suv. plus, are people like us living far, far away?

new research shows it's not out of the question. and did the football coach who collapsed on the field see signs of a mini stroke? we begin. great to be with you. i'm brooke baldwin. election day 2013. big races, major decisions for voters. and how these issues and races are decided could have an impact far beyond today. far beyond election day. take a look with me. among the places we're keeping a close eye on here, first you have virginia where democrat and clinton family friend terry mcauliffe is favored. heading up north, new york city where bill de blasio could become the first democrat to win the mayor's office since the 1980s. but we begin in new jersey where republican governor chris

christie is looking like he is headed for re-election in a democrat-leaning state. he is a centrist, straight talker who has shown he can win over traditionally democratic voters. and that has a lot of people talking about the future for the run for the white house. jake tapper has spent a heck of a lot of time with this governor today. he joins me live from asbury park. jake tapper, tell me about the governor. >> reporter: greetings from new jersey, brooke. i got to spend some time with governor christie today. as you mentioned, people are looking to new jersey and virginia to see if there's a lesson for the republican party as a whole here. governor christie says that he believes there is one when it comes to how the party can win the white house in the future. >> i think the party's got to

focus on winning again. you know, sometimes i feel like our party cares more about winning the argument than they care about winning elections. if you don't win elections, you can't govern. if you can't govern, you can't change the direction of a state like we did in new jersey. so, you know, one, i think we need to get ourself refocused on that. secondly, i think sometimes we forget that candidates matter. it's not just about a checklist of issues. it's also about how a person presents themselves as a candidate, how they articulate their view on things it and how they react to situations. people make judgments based on all those things. >> reporter: now, governor christie maintains he's not a moderate, despite the fact that many in the republican party look at him and believe he is because of the way he has governed here in new jersey, a blue state, a democratic state. he says he is a conservative. we talked a lot about what he thinks the national party needs

to do from here on in. >> i know you're going to tackle that. we'll hear much more of that on your show. but let me turn a corner and ask you about the president and, let's call it what it is, a broken health care promise. it's broken. you have heard it. i have heard it. our viewers have heard it so often. we can just about recite it in our sleep. >> if you like your private health insurance plan, you can keep it. if you like the plan you have, you can keep it. if you like the doctor you have, you can keep your doctor too. we will keep this promise to the american people. if you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. if you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan, period. >> now millions of folks are finding out that's not true. now we all of the sudden are seeing the fine print. >> what we said was you could

keep it if -- >> now there was an if. before you could keep it, period. now you can keep it -- >> if it hasn't changed since the law's passed. >> jake tapper, you heard the president. you can keep your insurance, not period, but if it hasn't changed since obama care passed. how can he say, as he seemed to be saying right there, that he's been saying all along -- what's the meaning here and significance of this new "if" clause? >> reporter: it's interesting. i asked president obama about this promise he was making because it didn't seem like you could change such a significant part of the economy and not have repercussions where people had to get different insurance or were forced to change doctors. what he said in 2009 was what he meant was if you like your health care plan, the government is not going to force you to change it. now he's saying something different, a new clause. so i did ask governor christie

today, who has a reputation for blunt talk to some people's pleasure, to some people's displeasure, i asked him what advice he would give president obama about this trouble that he's in about this broken promise. >> here's what my suggestion would be to him. don't be so cute. and when you make a mistake, admit it. listen, if it was a mistake in 2009, if he was mistaken in 2009, 2010 on his understanding of how the law would operate, then just admit it to people. you know what? i said it, i was wrong. i'm sorry and we're going to try to fix this and make it better. i think people would give any leader in that circumstance a lot of credit for just, you know, owning up to it instead of now trying to -- like, don't lawyer it. people don't like lawyers. i'm a lawyer. they don't like them. you know? don't lawyer it. when i saw that this morning -- i saw that this morning for the first time, and i thought, he's lawyering it. that's barack obama the lawyer. >> reporter: so brooke, there

you have it. don't be so cute. this is governor christie's suggestion for president obama. don't be so cute, admit what was wrong, say you're going to fix it, and be a leader, not a lawyer. that is governor christie's advice, unrequested for president obama. >> but given nonetheless on board that bus. since i have you and i know you've been on a bus, i don't know if you've seen this. new numbers from gallup. these approval ratings for the president now dipping down to 39%. what do you make of that? >> reporter: well, it's been a rough rollout for obama care. i think that the administration has a credibility issue right now when it comes to the comments that president obama made about being able to keep your doctor. we should point out this affects a small percentage of the population, but it's still millions of americans who are now being forced to change their health care plans, and he also has a credibility issue when it comes to explaining what he meant in 2009. now, i've been reading "double

down," the book about the 2012 campaign. that book is filled of examples of romney and obama campaign staffers who are brilliant and have wonderful advice for candidates if only their candidates weren't so flawed. i have no doubt that one of those brilliant white house advisers will be able to help president obama out of this pickle, brooke. >> jake tapper, thank you so much. we'll be looking for you, of course, on "the lead" with much more on this interview with governor chris christie. tune in at 4:00 p.m. eastern. coming up, big, big news from the fourth largest city in north america. have you heard from this impromptu news conference from the mayor of toronto? apparently we the media were asking the wrong questions. the question was whether or not he was an addict. the right question would have been, mr. mayor, did you smoke crack in office? that is next. [ tires screech ]

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drunken stupors, crack, and the leader of the the fourth largest city in north america. turns out once again it's the media's fault. we were all asking the wrong questions. mayor rob ford, are you a crack addict? no way, he says. what we should have been asking is really just a much simpler question. mayor rob ford, have you been smoking crack on the job? >> yes, i have smoked crack cocaine. do i? am i an addict? no. have i tried it? probably in one of my drunken

stupors probably a year ago. you asked the question properly, i answered it properly. yes, i've made mistakes. all i can do now is move on. guys, can i just -- all i can say is i've made mistakes. you guys kept referring to alcohol. it was a couple isolated incidents. there's been times when i've been in a drunken stupor. that's why i want to see the tape. i want everyone in the city to see this tape. i'd like to see this tape. i don't even recall there being a tape and a video. i know that. so i want to see the state that i was in, but that's exactly it. i don't know what else i can say here, okay? i wasn't lying. no, i'm not an addict. no, i do not do drugs. i made mistakes in the past. all i can do is apologize, but it is what it is, and i can't change the past. i can apologize to my family, my friends, my colleagues, and the

people of this great city. i can't change -- i told you, probably approximately -- i'd say in and around about a year ago, but i don't know exactly. that's why i want to see -- i don't even remember. after some of the stuff you guys have seen me, in the state i've been in, it's a problem. >> are you high right now? >> there you have it. the mayor in his own words after months of allegations, pressure on the toronto mayor increased last week when the police chief announced investigators have found this video of the mayor that allegedly showed him smoking this crack pipe. so let me bring in robin doolittle. she's an investigative reporter for "the toronto star." let me begin with this impromptu news conference. what forced the mayor's hand here? why admit this now? >> we have no idea. my did connect with some of the mayor's staff afterwards.

they were completely taken by surprise. police sources indicate that the police service wasn't planning on releasing anything today or tomorrow that would prompt this. i happen to actually be outside when the mayor held this press conference. it did have the air that he just kind of snapped. it is a small point in the magnitude of the events, but the media have asked him repeatedly, have you ever smoked crack? he's always responded saying i'm not an addict. >> you say you weren't part of this gag. -- gag l. you talked to reporters that were. can you talk about the mayor's behavior, the laughter? >> pardon me, how long ago? >> no, have you talked to reporters who were part of this whole scrum, shoving microphones in his face when he was finally admitting to this. i'm curious of the atmosphere of everyone and the mayor almost

laughing it off. >> right. so i did happen to be standing there when he came through. he came off the elevator and was walking towards his office. he never speaks to reporters. this is extremely rare. he stopped and turned around. that was shocking on its own. he answered a few nonimportant questions and he finally looked at a reporter and said, you asked me something last may. that's when the gossip website first reported we'd seen this video of the mayor spoking crack. he said, you asked me a question back in may. what was it? someone said, have you ever smoked crack? he said, yes, i have smoked crack cocaine. it was like the air fell out of the room. people just started to shake. it took everybody by surprise, and it almost -- you had to think that actually happened. he's been so vehemently denying that he has ever smoked crack. he made an apology on the weekend after the chief of police announced that they had

this video, that "the star" had reported on. he apologized for his drinking. it's been rapidly advancing news. >> let's talk about the video. you're, as i mentioned, one of two canadian reporters to have seen this video. what did you see? >> right. so this is a group of self-professed drug dealers in the north end of the city. they secretly shot this video of the mayor. it looked like it was shot on an iphone. we watched it on an iphone. it's high definition. he's sitting up against a white wall. it's sunny. he's in a white dress shirt that's kind of unbuttoned around the top. he looks completely out of it. he's jerking and bobbing around. he's slurring. his eyes are kind of fluttering. he clearly smokes out of what looks like a crack pipe. it doesn't look like a marijuana pipe. it's long and clear and black at the bottom. he also calls liberal leader

justin trudoe a homophobic slur and makes disparaging comments about minorities. >> yet, thus far, his approval ratings have, in fact, increased. you have covered this mayor so much. you're writing a book on him. knowing toronto as well as you do, do you think that will change after today? >> it is worth noting his approval ratings are low. he's always -- he was elected with 47% of the vote. his approval rating has always been in and around 40%. so it's still in and around that range. it's not like 90% of the city is approving of him. >> sure, but it's gone up some 5% through this whole thing. >> no, and that is very consistent with what we've seen all along. when news broke that he'd been charged with drunk driving in florida in 1999, his approval rating went up. he's kind of a champion of the working guy. it's the classic george bush, i think i could have a beer with that guy, he's not going to judge me, he seems like one of the bros watching football.

yeah, it has a lot of people shocked that his approval rating has gone up. that's for sure. >> robyn doolittle, thank you very much. reporter with "the toronto star." just ahead, what was a missing person's case is now a murder mystery as investigators recover the bodies of a missing family in mississippi. we're on the case with those late developments. also, breaking news on cnn. two inmates who have been on the run for more than a week have been captured. those details next. [ male announcer ] this is claira.

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breaking news here on cnn.

remember the story from last sunday when those four inmates escaped through this detention facility in oklahoma, climbing through the ceiling tile, down the piping, and out of this detention facility? two of these inmates have been caught, but for a number of days the other two have been on the lam until now. i want to bring in hln law enforcement analyst mike brooks. we're now learning bits and pieces here, not a lot right now. they were found in a private home in oklahoma. it was all because of a tip that came into authorities this morning. they were taken without incident. >> well, the first two were caught less than 20 miles from the prison. they didn't get far at all. these two, we're not sure exactly how far from the jail they were caught. again, it came from a tip. you know, when you have escapees, they're going to go to either family, friends, associates. you know, it wasn't a matter of if, it was a matter of when. i knew they were going to get caught. i'm glad to see they were caught

from a tip. >> what happens in cases like this? you have to know police are thinking, okay, what's familiar territory for them? let's each out to family, let's reach out to associates to see if they have made contact. now, don't they know that the police are going to do that and that's just not smart? but i suppose breaking out of jail isn't smart. >> not too bright either. these aren't the brightest bulbs on the porch. that's for sure. they check visitors logs and everything else. they know who their friends and associates are, who's been calling them, who's been visiting the jail. they know all of this. that's where they start. you know, it's just man power. do you have enough men, do you have enough people to sit on these places to see if they show up there. but in this particular case, it came from a tip. they were taken without incident. >> not a matter of if, but when they get caught. mike brooks, thank you very much. and after a strange series of events here, a family in mississippi who mysteriously vanished has been found dead. police say what they believe to

be the bodies of a mother, her 7-year-old son, and the mother's husband have now been found. the family was last seen friday in their car. their vehicle was later found flipped upside down and in a ditch in the western part of this county. so flash forward to yesterday. investigators found bloody clothes in a dumpster at a gas station and linked them to this family. cnn's gary tuckman joins me by phone from this county here in mississippi. so gary, tell me what you know right now. >> brooke, this is just so sad and mystifying and horrifying. a little boy, 7 years old, his mother and stepmother are all found shot to dead four days after their empty suv was found flipped upside down in rural jackson, mississippi. for four days they were missing. with their discovery, an arrest has been made. a 42-year-old man in jackson,

he's been arrested for arson, accused of causing the fire, and perhaps staging the accident. why? the sheriff doesn't know. i've talked to him. he doesn't know the reason for that. but he has been arrested for arson. he also said he's a person of interest in the shotgun killing of all three of these victims. they were all shot to death. i talked to the family of the boy and his mother just a short time ago. they're devastated. they're stunned. they talk about a wonderful woman who recently got marry pd -- married and a sweet little boy. we just don't know why this happened, but a man is under arrest. >> absolutely awful. 7 years of age this little boy. gary tuchman, we'll being looking for your story tonight at 8:00 p.m. here on cnn. coming up next, as president obama essentially breaks his health care promise, cnn's senior white house correspondent jim acosta just got an interesting response here from the white house about that. this is really the closest the

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let me run this through for you. in new york, we could see a democratic mayor elected for the very first time in decades. in colorado, voter in 11 counties are considering secession. and there's already talk about new jersey governor chris christie's future plans. let's play reporter roulette. debra, first to you live in new york. set the scene for me. >> reporter: well, we can tell you a lot of people have been turning up at the polls today. democrat bill de blasio has been polling 40 points ahead of his republican challenger. de blasio, as you may remember, is a former staffer for both bill and hillary clinton. he's a proud progressive. he's working to close the financial gap between the city's rich and poor. the way he plans to do that is by raising taxes on the rich to help educate and create universal pre-k for low-income children. de blasio's biracial family has resonated with black and latino voters. meanwhile, joe lhota once served

as mayor giuliani's budget director. he's more closely aligned with the current mayor, michael bloomberg. de blasio would be the city's first democratic mayor in more than two decades. stunning when you think that the majority of voters here are actually democrats. >> debra, thank you. anna, tell me why these voters may want to secede. >> reporter: well, there are 11 counties in northern colorado voting on whether or not to create a 51st state. these are rural communities angry at a democratic-run legislature. the house, the senate, the governor's office all democratic majority. they're mad about gun control. they're mad about renewable energy standards. this is the way they think they're going to best have their voices heard. the idea of secession isn't likely to become a reality regardless of how today's vote goes, but it certainly sends a powerful message, brooke. >> anna, thank you very much.

and erin in new jersey for us today. we know why that governor's race is getting national attention, don't we? >> reporter: we sure do, brooke. and that's because chris christie has been on something of a victory lap, really, over the past week as he's been on a 90-stop bus tour. that's because he has been ahead in the polls some 20 to almost 40 points ahead of his democratic opponent. the real question tonight is not, of course, whether or not he's going to win. we know it'll be a blowout. the real question is can he go beyond a 30-point margin? everybody is watching to see what he'll do next. he's been very open about the fact that he may very well look at a presidential race in 2016. brooke? >> erin, thank you very much. and one other key race in the national spotlight today, the virginia race for governor. saw hillary clinton, even president obama get involved to help democrat terry mcauliffe. republican ken cuccinelli has tried to link mcauliffe to the

president's shaky health care rollout. mcauliffe has tied his opponent to congressional republicans and the government shutdown. so it's really seen as this bell weather for how these issues will play out in future races. then there's this. mayor captain jack sparrow has a nice ring to it. perhaps you prefer the guy from the pirate party who's not captain jack sparrow. these are two of the 35 choices facing minneapolis voters today as they choose a new mayor. minneapolis did away with primary elections, allowing just about anyone with the $20 filing fee to run for the city's top jobs. voters are asked to pick their top three choices. if no one gets 50% of the vote, a series of run-off elections will determine the city's new mayor. depending on the outcome, city council meet in addition minneapolis could get a whole lot more interesting. and as we mentioned at the top of the hour, president obama's job approval ratings taking another hit.

gallup, take a look at the numbers with me. just completed a survey and found this approval rating now dipping down to 39%. so let's take you to the white house to our senior correspondent there jim acosta, who had a pretty interesting exchange with jay carney not too along ago. tell me about that. >> reporter: that's right. the only thing that can explain that dip, and it's a significant dip, in those poll numbers is this intervening event that occurred with the rollout of obama care. then the president basically having this problem with something that he said to the american people time and again f you like your plan, you can keep it, talking about their insurance before the implementation of obama care. of cour obviously, that's not been the case, with millions of americans. receiving cancellation notices. we've gone back to jay carney time and again to ask him about the president's words. in the meantime, the president last night at an event with the organizing for action group that is basically his post-campaign volunteer action group, he

basically went back and talked about that pledge that he made to the american people about obama care, and he said basically if you have or had one of these plans before the affordable care act came into law and you really liked that plan, what we said was you could keep it if it hasn't changed since the law was passed. obviously the president is adding a few caveats, adding context there that wasn't there before when he made that pledge repeatedly. i asked jay carney at today's briefing here at the white house what is the deal with the president now adding those words to his original pledge? here's how jay carney answered that question. >> the president, as awesomely power as the office is, can't go back in time. what the president is focused on is what we're all focused on, which is getting this right for the american people and getting it right for everyone so that the ben fits of the affordable care act, the improvements in the coverage that everyone will enjoy and the broader benefits for our economy because of the slower rate of growth and health

care costs come about and come into being. you know, there's no question that this rollout has not gone as smoothly as we had hoped. and there's no question that the website has caused a lot of problems for americans trying to get information about the options available to them because of these marketplaces. >> reporter: so brooke, you just heard one exchange there. actually, this went on for several minutes. i tried to ask jay carney, did the president misspeak, does he admit he goofed? i asked as many different ways as you can. jay really just did not want to concede, and this white house is not ready to concede that the president misspoke, brooke. that is the bottom line here. they are defending what the president said throughout that entire run up to the passage of obama care. they're sticking to it at this point. they're basically saying, if people are losing their insurance, that's the fault of the insurance companies, not obama care. one thing jay carney did say, though, is that they are making

a vow to the american people to fix this, to get this right so people who do lose their coverage can get on this website whenever it's up and running at full capacity and get insurance that will get them covered, brooke. >> and because of all of this, again, the number from gallup today, 39% in that approval rating. >> reporter: lowest since 2011. not good. >> not good. jim, thank you. coming up next, senator rand paul facing accusations of plagiarism, now announcing changes inside his office. we'll explain what that means. also, what a day in toronto. live pictures here as we have learned the mayor rob ford has admitted not too long ago that, yes, indeed, he smoked crack in his office. any minute now, we'll see him appear yet again. what will he say next? stay with me. life with crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis

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so we're now learning that senator rand paul is making some changes to how things are done in his office. this is all in response to those accusations that two of his speeches borrowed from wikipedia. paul was at a campaign event in virginia last week for a candidate there when he said this. >> in the movie "gattica" in the not too distant future, eugenics is common and dna plays the primary role in determining your social class. >> so you heard the words you were reading with us. those are the lines nearly identical to a "gattaca" plot summary on wikipedia. let's talk about this with dana

bash, who's on the phone with me. we're learning these changes in his office, quoting a spokeswoman, restructuring the approval process. what does that mean? >> that means in layman's terms, they're going to try to get their act together in senator rand paul's office, in his world. most importantly and specifically among the people who write the material he used. not just in speeches but in op-eds. information has come out in the past few days that an op-ed he wrote in september was -- reports were that word for word parts of it had appeared in a magazine. parts had been lifted from some place else. senator paul gave an interview to "the new york times" where he was really defiant and also explaining this new process saying they're not going to fire anybody, no one is going to lose their job, but, quote, if it

will make people leave me the hell alone, we're going to do that, meaning the process, like college papers, meaning they're going to put footnotes out, make information available about where the citations come from in his speeches and so forth. look, he understands that this is a big deal and that this is a potentially very big problem for him. so he's trying to figure out a way to nip it in the bud, understanding, according to "the new york times," that he doesn't necessarily know if other things might come out. >> just quickly, dana, remind us, who typically writes speeches for senators like this? >> that's a great question and an important thing to keep in mind here. every senator, every politician does things differently. but for somebody like rand paul, who admits that he has a large volume of speeches, of op-eds, of information coming out in his

name of his office, he outsources to his staff. that's not unusual. most politicians do that. but for him, he has admitted that they have probably -- maybe they tried to do too much to try to be out there a lot and that he approves things on his blackberry, in his car going from one place to another, as do others. maybe they do things too much and too fast. perhaps this is something they have to think about doing. obviously, the reason we're talking about rand paul isn't just because he's a senator who seems to have these problems. it's because he's a very high-profile one, someone who's not been shy about ambitions for president in 2016, and this is a potential issue that he knows full well he's got to deal with. >> dana bash, thank you very much. >> thanks, brooke. and any minute, the mayor of toronto, the fourth largest city in north america, will speak live. these are live pictures here. just mere hours after he

admitted to smoking crack while in office. so what the heck will he say when he appears this time? stay right with me. i'm only in my 60's.

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i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. once again, as we come up on live pictures -- on the left side of your screen, this is taped from a while ago when the mayor of toronto admitted to the scrum of reporters in city hall that, yes, in one of his drunken stupors, he did, in fact, smoke crack cocaine approximately one year ago. that huge admission happening not too long ago. right side of your screen, live pictures as we have learned the mayor is reappearing today. what he will say and why we have to wait to find out. so stay tuned as we await that. let me take you to provo, utah. the murder trial of dr. martin macneill showcased four inmates serving time for identity theft. the first inmate was asked about

his conversations known with the man as doc about allegedly killing his wife. >> i just asked him, i said, doc, they say you murdered your wife and he was like, no, i didn't murder my wife. if i did, they don't have any evidence. so you know -- and i was like, doc, they say you murdered her. he was like, no, i'm going to go home, they don't have any evidence. >> what else did he say about evidence against him? >> nothing, really, except they didn't have any evidence and they couldn't prove anything. >> let's talk about this. let me bring in hln's jane velez-mitchell. let's back up to what we just heard. can you give me context there? >> if the prosecutor didn't look too happy, it's because this inmate that they brought on with so much fanfare and we expected just a slam dunk for the prosecution, you heard what he just said. that the doc said, that means this guy, the defendant, no, i

didn't murder my wife, and if i did, they don't have any evidence. i actually saw dr. macneill smile at one point. it's the first time i think i've seen him smile. this was very, very bad for the prosecution, in my opinion. there was such hype surrounding this. we really thought that, oh, we were going to hear that dr. macneill was walking around, bragging behind bars about how he had offed his wife. we didn't really hear that. what we heard is that he called his wife the "b" word. we heard that from two inmates. and we heard comments he made about his adult daughters, who charged the case against him. but we didn't hear any evidence saying, yeah, i killed my wife. big disappointment. >> why was there even a question as to whether or not this testimony would be allowed? >> well, these are criminals. these are people who have done very bad things.

they are liars. that's what their criminal record shows. so they have a very big credibility problem. there was a huge debate before they took the stand this morning where the prosecution and the defense were arguing about what would they be allowed to say. would, in fact, these inmates be allowed to say that dr. macneill referred to his wife using the "b" word. ultimately, yes, but they eliminated other things. you're talking about people who are convicted criminals. obviously, their word doesn't mean a heck of a lot. >> if you're a juror sitting in that courtroom, i would be questioning the vor rasty of a hardened criminal sitting on the stand. how do they work that in the favor of defense? >> well, actually, i thought the first inmate who took the stand sounded quite believable. he said he used to work out with dr. macneill and they became friends. he said, hey, doc, word out here is you killed your wife. the answer, unfortunately for the prosecution, was that dr. macneill said, no, i didn't

murder my wife, and if i did, they don't have any evidence. that's not something you can hang your hat on. if they was the big crescendo we were expecting, not so much. >> not so much. jane velez-mitchell, thank you, as always. watch jane on hln at 7:00 p.m. eastern. now, one family, two very different descriptions of the same mother. police say a woman in columbia who is a mother of 14 forced her daughters to sell their virginity for about $200. some were allegedly as young as 12 years of age. now one of her own daughters is speaking out, and would you believe, coming to mom's defense, saying her mother is innocent and has made so many sacrifices just to raise her children. >> translator: i don't understand why they're accusing my mother without proof, without getting everybody's testimony. i don't know why she's doing that. what's more, my mother didn't raise her. why are they saying my mother sold her, knowing that she gave

her to another lady when she was little? it's not fair. it's not fair that they're accusing a person without gathering proof, without being sure that what they're saying is true. >> police launched this investigation when one of the sisters kaked officers seeking help. the mother here has denied these accusations and has not been formally charged. but police are standing by their case, saying they, indeed, have proof and the older daughters change their stories upon realizing their mother would be sent to jail. coming up, passengers forced to run for their lives after flames erupt on the tarmac. look at these pictures. we'll play more of this for you, show you how these dramatic moments unfolded. also, live pictures in toronto. again, we await -- look at the press here. they're awaiting and watching for the mayor of toronto, who hours ago admitted to smoking crack cocaine while in office. what will he say next? stay with me. cg/úññ

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now to some of the hottest videos of the day. we call it hit play. fire on the tarmac. passengers just settling in for takeoff in montreal forced to run for their lives after a luggage cart burst into flames. you see people sliding off the plane, running from the smoke. several of them needed medical attention.

this oregon middle school football coach fired. why? for organizing a team dinner, of all places, at hooters. word got out of the event's risque location and the coach got canned. he apparently was offered other spots to dine, but he refused and says he has no regrets. >> not allowing myself to be bullied by the vocal minority is the example, is the war i want to win. >> on my right is the new dodge durango. on my left is one horse. >> dodge definitely feeling the power of ron burgundy. those new ads featuring the anchorman apparently a huge hit. sales of dodge durangos up 59% last month. stay classy, ron. >> the luxurious things in life are -- hey, what are you doing? get out of here! get out of here, you dumb

dancers >> translato dancers! >> and that's today's "hit play." the rollout of his signature law is a mess, and now president obama changing his tune in a complete reversal of a promise he made americans. i'm brooke baldwin. the news is now. he's known for speaking his mind. just a short time ago on this election day, chris christie doesn't hold back in an interview with cnn. did the childhood of a football player contribute to his alleged harassment of a teammate? plus, a little girl was reportedly scared to show her parents a bad report card. now years later, she's found starved to death, her body burned. we're on the case. and did the football coach who collapsed on the field see signs of a mini stroke?

here we go. hour two. i'm brooke baldwin. we begin with drunken stupors and crack and the leader of the fourth largest city in north america. turns out once again it's the media's fault. we were all asking the wrong questions. mayor rob ford, are you a crack addict? no way, he says. turns out what we should have been asking is a much simpler question. mr. mayor, have you been smoking crack on the job? oh, yeah. the mayor expected to speak any moment. live pictures out of toronto. what the heck will he say this time? stay right here. we will take it live. but first, big races and big decisions for america's voters today. folks, it's election day across the country. let me take you first to virginia. democrat and clinton family friend terry mcauliffe is favored over republican ken cuccinelli in the race for governor there. in new york city, you have bill de blasio. he could become the first democrat to win the mayor's office in that city since the '80s.

but let's begin in new jersey, where republican governor chris christie's race for re-election is gaining all kinds of national attention because a christie victory would be seen as the start of something much, much bigger. a lot of people are predicting a future run for the white house. and jake tapper, host of "the lead," chief washington correspondent, he's joining me now. he rode along on the bus with the governor. jake tapper joins me now. jake, how was governor chris christie today? >> reporter: greetings from asbury park, new jersey, brooke. governor christie seemed in fine spirits. polls have him up double digits. the question will be how much does he beat his democratic opponent by, at least according to the polls. president obama won re-election here in new jersey by 18 percentage points. governor christie trying to set the bar low. just wants to get at least in the 50s, he says. 50% plus one would be enough,

although one suspects he wants to have a larger margin so he can make an argument to a national republican audience and say, look, i was able to win democratic voters and constituencies and independent voters here in a blue state. i can do that nationally. we asked him, what's the lesson for the national republican party as you see it? >> i think that the party's got to focus on winning again. you know, sometimes i feel like our party cares more about winning the argument than they care about winning elections. if you don't win elections, you can't govern. if you can't govern, you can't change directions of a state, like we've done in new jersey. one, i think we need to get ourself refocused on that. secondly, i think sometimes we forget that candidates matter. it's not just about a checklist of issues. it's also about how a person presents themselves as a candidate, how they articulate their view on things and how they react to situations. people make judgments based on all those things.

>> reporter: now, one of the criticisms from some democrats anticipating that they will lose here today is that christie is going to win because he has made personality more important than policy. christie rejects that, brooke. he says it's about whether or not voters can trust him and whether or not they think he is a leader, brooke. >> speaking of personality, let's get to this "don't be so cute" line you heard from the governor today. set it up for me. you were asking the governor about the obama care controversy and specifically some advice perhaps he would have for the president. what did he tell you? >> reporter: well, it's interesting. i mean, obviously president obama is having some trouble in the last few weeks about his 2009, 2010 promise, if you like your insurance, you can keep your insurance. obviously that is not the case for millions of americans. a small percentage, but still millions of americans. and last night at an obama campaign-type event with a bunch of supporters, the president tried to go back in time and

amend his statement so it was, if you like your policy, you can keep your policy as long as it hasn't changed after the date of the law the implements or something like that. i asked governor christie about his credibility issues the president was having, what his advice would be for the president. >> here's my suggestion to him. don't be so cute. and when you make a mistake, admit it. listen, if it was a mistake in 2009, if he was mistaken in 2009, 2010 on his understanding of how the law would operate, then just admit it to people. you know what? i said it, i was wrong. i'm sorry, and we're going to try to fix this and make it better. i think people would give any leader in that circumstance a lot of credit for just, you know, owning up to it. don't lawyer it. people don't like lawyers. i'm a lawyer. they don't like them. don't lawyer it. when i saw that this morning -- i saw that this morning for the first time my ugt that, he's lawyering it. that's barack obama the lawyer. >> reporter: of course, governor

christie has a reputation here for his blunt talk. that doesn't always go over well. some democrats and skeptics say he is a bully, but in a recent poll here, more new jersey residents thought christie was a fighter than thought he was a bully, which suggests they see things the way that governor christie sees them. brooke? >> can i ask, let's put politics aside for a second. he's in the public spotlight. he had that surgery. must to do about christie's weight. you asked him about that. what did he say? >> reporter: i did. he had that lap band surgery a few months ago. obviously, he's been strug wlg his weight. it's a health issue, a serious health issue, as you know. i asked him how he was doing. he said that he was more than halfway to his goal. he felt good, he felt like he had a lot of energy. it was because he was sleeping better. he never realized before how much being obese affected his sleep, kind of waking him up several times during the night. now he was sleeping better and felt much more energized.

more than halfway to his goal. people on the campaign trail were telling him, you look good, you've obviously lost weight. i think that meant a lot to him. >> you can see the difference just by the pictures side by side. good for him. jake tapper, thank you. make sure you watch the top of the hour, jake sits down with governor chris christie. thank you very much. now, just for the record, i want to play for you the moment -- the president's previous promise on health care. this is what jake and i were talking about. and the clarification he added last night. take a listen. >> if you like your doctor, you'll be able to keep your doctor, period. if you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan, period. >> what we said was you could keep it, if it hasn't changed since the law's passed. >> turns out that is a pretty big "if" for those many americans now receiving

cancellation notices from their insurers. now this number today. the president's approval rating has sunk now to 39%. this is the daily gallup tracking poll. this was released a short time ago. just so you know, this is an average of gallup's last three days of polling. let's go to washington. gloria borger, our chief political analyst. how big of a problem is this becoming for president obama now? >> and i'm in new york today for election night, brooke. what a surprise. look, i think this is becoming a large credibility problem for the president. what we heard in the first bite that you played was political sloganeering. the president was misleading. he was imprecise, maybe purposefully. what we heard in the second bite was somebody trying to be a little bit more precise, caveating things. i think chris christie hit the nail on the head when he said the president was being lawyerly.

it's hard to be lawyerly when you're looking for bumper stickers, when you're trying to sell something during a campaign. but that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. it was clear to me today from listening to jay carney's exchange with jim acosta that if the president had to do it all over again, maybe he would have been a little bit more precise because these are smart people, brooke. they knew all of the hypotheticals that were possible. they just didn't talk about it. >> so this lawyerliness, go with me. i'm just going to use the word. what we saw with the president last night, how does that hurt his ability to sell this crucial, crucial program? >> well, okay, so here you have a program that first of all -- let's start from square one. people were a little skeptical about it, if not a lot skeptical to begin with. it passed with partisan majority. it was political to begin with. on top of that -- he won re-election, though. then, on top of that, let's

overlay the problem with the website, which doesn't give people a lot of faith in the program itself. then overlay that with the problems people are having in realtime who are in these individual plans, as jake pointed out earlier. it's still up 5%, but that still does mean millions of americans who could receive cancellation notices. so if you're just out there and you're sort of thinking about this and do i like it and don't i like it, what you're seeing unravel before you, you know, doesn't give you a lot of faith in the plan. so i think the white house now, look, they're trying to change attire while they're going 50 miles an hour with this website, right. >> do they need to slow down? >> right. well -- slow down and convince the american people that actually, it's a good plan if you give it a little bit of time. and they've also got democrats knocking at their door saying, you know what, this is giving me trouble back home, we need to

give it some more time. so we'll see how this plays out as the white house decides what its next steps are. >> gloria borger in new york for election night. gloria, thank you very much. >> should be fun. and any moment, live pictures. we await and a heck of a lot of media awaits as well. the mayor of toronto will be speaking live. hours ago he admitted, yep, yep, he has smoked crack in office. i have no idea what he's going to stay. but stay with me. we'll find out together. ve brout overmany discounts to thine customers! [old english accent] safe driver, multi-car, paid in full -- a most fulsome bounty indeed, lord jamie. thou cometh and we thy saveth! what are you doing? we doth offer so many discounts, we have some to spare. oh, you have any of those homeowners discounts? here we go. thank you. he took my shield, my lady. these are troubling times in the kingdom. more discounts than we knoweth what to do with. now that's progressive.

let's take a peek at some of these live pictures here.

once again, this is toronto. any minute now the mayor there who just admitted to smoking crack while in office will be speaking there. what will he say? your guess is as good as mine. but after months of dodging these allegations, today he made this admission, which included talk of a drunken stupor. >> yes, i have smoked crack cocaine. >> when, sir? >> do i? am i an addict? no. have i tried it? probably in one of my drunken stupors. probably approximately about a year ago. i answered your question. you asked a question properly, i'll answer it. yes, i made mistakes. all i can do now is apologize and move on. guys, whoa, can i just -- >> yes, please. >> all i can say is i've made mistakes. you guys kept referring to alcohol. there was a couple isolated incidents. there's been times when is i've been in a drunken stupor. that's why i want to see the tape. i want everyone in the city to see this tape. i'd like to see this tape.

i don't even recall there being a tape and a video. so i want to see the state i was in. that's exactly it. i don't know what else i can say here, okay? so i wasn't lying. you didn't ask the correct questions. no, i'm not an addict. no, i do not do drugs. i made mistakes in the past. all i can do is apologize. but it is what it is, and i can't change the past. and i can apologize to my family, my friends, my colleagues and the people of this great city. [ overlapping talking ] i'd say in and around a year ago. i don't know exactly. that's why i want to see -- i don't even remember. after some of the stuff you guys have seen, the state i've been in, that's a problem. >> are you high now? >> there you have it. the mayor himself. as we've mentioned, man,

pressure has been mounting on this guy since the toronto police chief announced investigators found this video of the mayor that allegedly showed him smoking out of a crack pipe. earlier i talked to robyn doolittle. she's one of two canadian reporters who has seen this videotape. i asked her, what did she see? >> this is a group of self-professed drug dealers in the north end of the city. they secretly shot this video of the mayor. he's -- it's shot -- it looked like it was shot on an iphone. we watched it on an iphone. so it's high definition. he's sitting against a white wall. it's sunny. he's in a white dress shirt that's kind of unbuttoned around the top. he looks completely out of it. he's jerking and bobbing around. he's slurring. his eyes are kind of fluttering. he clearly smokes from -- out of what looks like a crack pipe. it doesn't look like a marijuana

pipe. it's long and clear and black at the bottom. he also calls liberal leader justin trudoe a homophobic slur and he makes disparaging comments about minorities. >> so that's what robyn doolittle told me. sun sunny hostin, we don't know what this mayor is about to say. we may have to pull away from this conversation when and if he starts to speak. here you have the mayor of the fourth largest city in north america saying, yes, in fact, i smoked crack sometime about a year ago. what next for him? >> it's really remarkable. and i don't know what's next. i mean, i think the example that a lot of people are talking about is marion berry in 1990. we know after a ten-week trial, he was convicted of possession of cocaine. he was sentenced to about six months in prison. he certainly had a political comeback after that.

but if there is video of this mayor in possession of a drug, smoking crack cocaine, as it is alleged, he could be charged with a crime. there's no question about that. because there's a history, right. we've done things like that before in law enforcement. so i think that the investigation is ongoing. i'm certain of that. we've heard reports about that. i think at this point he's really got a lot to do. are we talking about someone that really needs rehab? we're also talking about someone now that is really violated the public trust. and i think that is really the larger picture here. if we're talking about someone who's addicted, then perhaps people will be more forgiving. i think law enforcement officers would be more forgiving. you could have some sort of deal where someone goes to rehab. >> but when you mention this video as evidence -- so if someone, as we have in this case, the mayor is saying, yes, i smoked crack, that's not enough for charges, drug charges to be slapped against him. it would be the video that would

produce that evidence to have those charges? >> yeah, i think so. >> okay. sunny hostin, thank you very much. we watch, we wait to see what the mayor, what mayor rob ford has to say. thank you so much. meantime, we're going to move along and talk about the president and his approval rating sipging after the stumbled launch of obama care. the president said americans could keep their doctors, could keep their insurance. and now he is amending that statement. we're going to talk about that. plus, houston texans coach gary kubiak shocked on the field sunday night. doctors say the cause was a mini stroke. what is that? what are the warning signs? that is coming up. ♪ ♪ nothing says, "you're my #1 copilot,"

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waiting game here as we and a huge number of members of the press in toronto are awaiting the mayor, mayor rob ford, who made big, big news just a couple hours ago when he said, yes, indeed, he smoked out of a crack pipe within the last year, he said. so that translates into being on the job as mayor of the city. what will he say next? we do not know, so stay tuned as we'll take that live. but i want to talk about a moment that shocked many of you as you were watching sunday night's game between the texans and colts. didn't actually happened during play. it happened right before halftime when texans head coach gary kubiak collapsed. you can see it on the field. he was walking to the locker room. people rushed in, what was going on. we can tell yoe he was released from the hospital today. the cause of this was a mini stroke. senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen is here with me. scary to see that happen on the

field. people were like, what happened? we now know. what is a mini stroke? >> it is just that. it is a mini version of a stroke. let me show you what i mean by that. we don't know where exactly coach kubiak had his mini stroke. somewhere in this system. so let's take a look close up at a vessel. blood is running through this vessel, right. that's the way it's supposed to work. when someone has a stroke, you get a clot at some point. so the blood can't keep flowing to the brain. in a full stroke, that clot stays there until medicine or something else gets it out. that's in a really dire situation. in a mini stroke, it kind of breaks up and breaks away on its own. so it just sort of goes away. so it's a very different kind of deal than a full-on stroke. >> so if you have a mini stroke or a tia, what's the prognosis? >> the prognosis is great. many people have no symptoms after they have their initial set of symptoms. we saw the coach was on the ground. many people are just perfectly fine afterwards. but there's a big but.

that's is that one who's had a mini stroke is ten times more likely to go on and have a full-on stroke. so that's pretty serious. i mean, people who have had mini strokes need to know that they need to really be wary about this. >> what can someone do? especially when you could be in the middle of it. what does it feel like? what are the signs? >> there are certain signs you should look for. it's important for all of us to know this. you never know what you're going to be with someone who may have a mini stroke or a stroke. these are the signs from the american stroke association. face drooping, arm weakness, both of those would be on one side usually, difficulties with speech, and that means it's time to call 911. so f for face, a for arm, s for speech. time to call 911. don't hesitate. there's a window in which you can get treatment. you need to meet that window. >> elizabeth cohen, thank you. we wish the coach a speedy recovery. coming up, my panel faces off over the promise the president made to americans over his

health care law. this as we're seeing the gallup poll today pretty low. 39%. plus, once again, we're awaiting the mayor of toronto. what will he say after admitting to smoking crack? wait with me. be right back. anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yes! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. live the regular life. phillips'.

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waiting, waiting, waiting. once again, live pictures from toronto. look at the press here. it seems to have grown each and every time we look at this live picture. once again, mate your of toronto, rob ford, admitting, yes, indeed, he admitted to smoking crack cocaine. he qualified that was in one of

his many drunken stupors. what will he say next? we'll wait and see. meantime, let's turn our attention to the white house. it has been a tumultuous day. in the midst of the botched rollout of the president's health care plan, his approval rating has sunk below 40%. it is at 39%, to be exact in this three-day gallup tracking poll. that's close to his previous low. also, just a short time ago his chief spokesman came as close as he has so far to disavowing the president's long-time pledge that under obama care people who like their insurance can keep it. >> the president, as awesomely powerful as the office is, can't go back in time. what the president is focused on is what we're all focused on, which is getting this right for the american people. >> you know, we also heard chris christie today tell cnn's jake tapper that the president made a

mistake. he should own up to it. chances are, said christie, the american people will forgive him. so let's kick this around. emily miller is senior opinion editor for the washington times." chris is a senior democratic strategist. welcome to both of you. chris, let me begin with you. how bad is it for the white house now that they are starting to roll back the president's pledge that we heard over and over and over that everyone who likings their health insurance gets to keep it? >> well, i mean, it's not good. any time you're in a situation where you have to kind of walk back what you had said earlier, that creates a bit of a problem. what makes this more challenging is you're dealing with the kind of signature policy and piece of legislation for the president. i mean, i think that the challenge for the white house, i think, and this is always difficult with you're in these positions, is to kind of admit to the reality, as difficult as it is and as political as the republicans are going to try to make it no matter what you do.

you have to come out and basically state the facts. it was a misstatement. he needed to be clear. he can apologize and move on and focus on the good things in obama care that are going to improve people's lives. the more you kind of, you know, play this song and dance around the edges, the more you kind of give fodder to the republicans to kind of keep beating you and beating you and the more you create a problem with the american people. >> well, with republicans, emily miller, i mean, how do republicans play this politically? do you think there will be more calls to delay parts of the program? >> yes, i do think they'll keep pushing to delay a year for the individual mandate. but you know, what you're seeing from the republican side of the aisle is almost silence because everything that's happening is happening without them pushing it. this is not a political agenda. americans, millions of americans are just getting letters in the mail saying your insurance has been canceled, the next option is double the price or 20% more the price. it's reality. >> so do you think they regret the shutdown strategy in this could have been the headline weeks ago. >> i don't think so.

the shutdown always started with ted cruz saying we need to stop obama care in its tracks. so it was always based on the fact that republicans have predicted exactly this debacle coming up. the reality is so bad. i don't know if people are going to remember the shutdown, but they're going to remember when they look down to get their monthly bill for their health insurance and see it's 20%, 30%, 40% more than they paid last year and they didn't want this new plan. that is what's going to make a difference in 2014. >> i think democrats would dispute that as it's written in the history books, but i want to move on. chris, one of the top officials in charge of implementing obama care got another earful today on capitol hill. this time it's republicans and democrats. take a look. >> i believe that there's been a crisis of confidence created in the dysfunctional nature of the website, the cancelling of policies, and sticker shock from some people. >> after nearly $400 million, healthcare.gov is synonymous now with failure. the public's trust has been broken, and the reports i'm

hearing re-enforce why. >> i think it's very confusing. i know my time is up, but i think it's very confusing about where you go. we hear about the navigators and the this and that, but i can tell you people really don't know. >> chris, loss of confidence, loss of trust. how does the president get those back? >> i mean, i think you've got to be very clear to the american people about the problems. you have to be very transparent about where things are, how you're going to fix the things that are broken. when you have democrats like senator mikulski, you know, hitting you as hard in some cases as republicans, you have a serious issue. and this is an important point to keep in mind. the republicans are being ridiculously hypocritical about this. yes, there are problems with obama care. yes, there are people losing their health care because of changes to the plan to meet aca requirements. but i didn't hear a peep from republicans when these problems were happening across the board

to countless americans for years. so yes, there are challenges here, but i always kind of -- you know, you really see the reality where the republicans' position is and what their policies are when they don't offer solutions. they're really good at criticisms. >> go ahead, emily. >> chris, no one was getting letters in the mail for years saying their plans had been canceled or it was doubling. >> that's factually correct. >> okay. who are all those people then, chris? where are you hearing this? no one else seems to know them except you. >> do you actually believe -- >> go ahead, emily. what broo >> what brooke is really talking about is the integrity of the president si. that's why you see his poll numbers at 39%. what does the president have but his word? it's not that he made a mistake and said if you like your plan, you can keep it. we know going back to 2010, hhs predicted up to 80% of people who have their own insurance plans would lose it because of these new mandates and new

requirements that hhs has put in that you have to have things like maternity care, prescription care, hospitalization. so the white house knew this and continued through the 2012 election to get re-elected to say if you want to keep your insurance, you can. and that is where the american public has really lost trust in this president. >> chris, respond. we got to go. >> listen, i think there's two key points or two distinctions. one, the president and the administration clearly have to face up to that there were things that were said that weren't correct, that weren't, i think, as accurate or direct as they needed to be. that, i think, is something the president and administration can do. let's not ignore the fact that republicans offer no alternatives, no solutions that will address the fundamental problems that the obama care act actually does. that, i think, is a big distinction here. >> all right, guys. emily and chris, thank you both very much. senator rand paul is making some changes to how things are done in his office. this is a response to the accusations that not just one,

but two of his speeches copied from wikipedia. paul was at a campaign event in virginia last week when he said this. >> in the movie "gattaca" in the not too distant future, eugenics is common and dna plays the primary role in determining your social class. >> so you saw the lines as you heard him. these are the lines nearly identical to this "gattaca" plot summary on wikipedia. today, a spokeswoman said senator paul is, quote, restructuring the approval process in order to avoid any further instances of misusing other people's material. senator paul also talked to "the new york times" saying the changes are intended to, quote, make people leave me the hell alone. but he didn't rule out more instances of plagiarism will be discovered. coming up any moment, the mayor of toronto will be speaking live hours after admitting, yep, he smoked crack in office. i have no clue what this mayor

is going to say. we have been waiting. these are live pictures. a lot of people are waiting on this mayor. stay tuned. the day we rescued riley, was a truly amazing day. without angie's list, i don't know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. from contractors and doctors to dog sitters and landscapers. you can find it all on angie's list. join today.

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15 minutes away from the closing bell. let's take a look at the marks. despite riding a wave of momentum, pretty flat today. down, what, seven points here. sitting at 15,631 right now. just about 16 minutes away from that closing bell. banks are easing up on buyers looking to buy a home. consumers who don't have a lot of cash on hand can get loans with down payments as low as 5%. bank of america and wells fargo just a couple of financial institutions offering the deals. remember, one time buyers had to fork over 20% to put down or turn to the federal housing administration for a very low down payment. but experts say demand depleted the fha's reserves, forced higher costs. that sent buyers back to private lenders, who say they can offer a better deal. we are learning new details

about the extreme abuse suffering by one of ariel castro's kidnap victims. michelle knight, the first of three young women to be ab ducked in cleveland, describes in a paid interview with dr. phil what it was like to endure nearly 11 years of horror. 11 years of being chained in castro's home. take a look. >> when you were down there, was it generally in the dark? >> there was no light. no light at all. >> and you just laid on the concrete floor in the dark? >> well, it was kind of like being like this because i couldn't lay down because the pole would hold me up. >> because of the chain around your neck. >> yeah. >> you were able to sleep some? >> no, i just mainly passed out from the chain being around my neck. >> castro was sentenced to life

in prison but was found dead in his cell in september and later tonight on "ac 360," anderson cooper sits down once again with dr. phil to talk about what else he discover during this revealing one-on-one with survivor michelle knight. moments ago, attorney general eric holder sat down and spoke exclusively with cnn, made surprising comments about the nsa. we'll share that with you next. also, live pictures out of toronto as we watch and wait for the mayor, who's admitted to smoking crack cocaine in one of his drunken stupors. waiting to see what he'll say next. stay here. you're watching cnn. everybody knows that. well, did you know that when a tree falls in the forest and no one's around, it does make a sound? ohhh...ohhh...oh boy! i'm falling. everybody look out! ahhhhh...ugh. little help here. geico.

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eric holder, the attorney general of the united states, gave an exclusive interview today to cnn. he sat down and spoke with evan perez. they covered a wide range of issues, but perhaps none as critically important as the role of the national security agency in the wake of edward snowden's revelations about widespread domestic spying. here is what the attorney general had to say. >> i mean, one has to look at the whole system, me included, and we have to ask some very legitimate questions. have we gone too far? are we sweeping into our surveillance net too many things? >> but that didn't occur to you before you signed these orders? >> i didn't say that. there were questions that i think -- as i said, there were

conversations we were having within the administration, especially when it comes to the question of metadata. that's something that i think congress is talking about now. there's legislation being considered and is something >> evan perez joins me now. what else did he say? >> reporter: well, brooke, as you just heard, the attorney general says they were starting to talk about some of these nsa programs even before the edward snowden disclosures came about earlier this year. now, those discussions probably happened behind closed doors. these are programs that are still secret, as you know. but he also, i asked him whether or not he would consider clemency for snowden. snowden this week issued a letter in which he said because of all the conversation that he spurred in the united states and in europe, that perhaps he should get clemency from the u.s. charges that have been filed against him. as you know, he's hiding out in

russia right now. the attorney general said that was not something he would consider because there were better ways for snowden to try to make his point about what needed to happen on surveillance. we also talked about marijuana and the attorney general said he and the president had talked about the effect on the african-american communities. a lot of young african-american men get their first arrest records for marijuana, so he talked about that and the need to change some of our drug laws and the way we sentence people for those cases. >> evan perez with the exclusive with the a.g. we will look for more of your interview through the night. thank you so much, sir. meantime, we are seeing some sudden movement here. live pictures, not quite sure what we're looking at but the camera is moving. we wait. the mayor in toronto admitting to smoking crack today. he is expected to speak at any seco you will hear that and his entire admission today. let me tell you, it is bizarre, it is surreal. weil it for you.

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let's take a look at these live pictures once again. a crush of media waiting to cover the mayor of toronto because we're anticipating his arrival here really any minute now, as we have learned from this mayor, mayor rob ford, admitting today, yes, he smoked crack while in office. he will be speaking live. what will he say when he speaks? your guess is as good as mine, really. but after months of dodging these allegations, today he made the admission, talk about a surreal bombshell here, which included talk of a drunken stupor. here he was. >> yes, i smoked crack cocaine. but no -- do i? am i an addict? no. have i tried it? probably in one of my drunken stupors probably approximately a year ago. i answered your question. you asked a question properly, i will answer it. yes, i made mistakes.

all i can do now is apologize and move on. guys, can i just -- all i can say is i've made mistakes. you guys kept referring to alcohol. it was a couple isolated incidents. there's been times when i've been in a drunken stupor. that's why i want to see the tape, i want everyone in the city to see this tape. i'd like to see this tape. i don't even recall there being a tape or video. i want to see the state i was in. but that's exactly it. i don't know what else i can say. i wasn't lying. you didn't ask the correct questions. no, i'm not an addict. no, i do not do drugs. i made mistakes in the past and all i can do is apologize, but it is what it is and i can't change the past. and i can apologize to my family, my friends, my colleagues and the people of this great city.

i told you, probably approximately, i would probably say around about a year ago but i don't know exactly. that's why i want to see -- i don't even remember. after some of the stuff you've seen me, the state i've been in, that's a problem. >> talk about surreal and bizarre. that was a couple of hours ago. i should tell you i talked to a toronto star investigative reporter, robyn doolittle. that was entirely impromptu, what you just saw. one of the reporters was shouting questions and he stopped and answered this time and everybody, the scrum happened, all the reporters came around. when i talked to robyn on the show, she also talked to him about the video here that police, toronto police, the police chief says yes, indeed they have this piece of video where you can see rob ford smoking out of a crack pipe. so there are two canadian reporters who have seen that video. and robyn is one of them.

i asked her about what she saw. >> reporter: this is a group of self-professed drug dealers in the north end of the city. they secretly shot this video of the mayor. it's shot -- looked like it was shot on an iphone. we watched it on an iphone so it's high definition. he's sitting up against a white wall. it's sunny. he's in a white dress shirt. that's kind of unbuttoned around the top and he looks completely out of it. he's jerking and bobbing around, he's slurring, his eyes are kind of fluttering and he clearly smokes from out of what looks like a crack pipe. it doesn't look like a marijuana pipe. it's long and clear and black at the bottom. >> so that is how she described the video to me, as we await the mayor in toronto. let me leave you with the hottest videos of the day. hit "play." fire on the tarmac. passengers just settling in for takeoff in montreal forced to

run for their lives after a luggage cart burst into flames. you see people sliding off the plane, running from the smoke. several of them needed medical attention. this oregon middle school football coach fired. why? for organizing a team dinner at all places, at hooters. word got out of the event's risque location and the coach got canned. he apparently was offered other spots to dine but he refused and says he has no regrets. >> not allowing myself to be bullied by the vocal minority is the example, is the war i want to win. >> on my right is the new dodge durango with up to 360 horse power. on my left is one horse. >> dodge definitely feeling the power of ron burgundy. the new ads featuring the anchorman apparently a huge hit. sales of durangos up 59% last

month. stay classy, ron. >> hey, what are you doing? get out of here! get out of here! >> that's today's "hit play." i'll see you back here this time tomorrow. it is election day. jake tapper on the road in asbury park, new jersey, watching the gubernatorial race closely. "the lead" starts now. greetings from asbury park, new jersey. with all due respect to bruce springsteen, today is about a different boss here in new jersey. i'm jake tapper. this is "the lead." the politics lead. election 2013. what happens today could change the political landscape in hundreds of cities. new york, boston, detroit and many more, all electing new mayors. and we are closely watching two gubernatorial races. one in virginia that could be a weather vane for political winds and the other, in new jersey, here, which could be the crucible for a